If you have a bunch of Lego bricks, this is an excellent idea book for making unusual things with them. Examples: micro-scale houses, a calendar, an animated bear head, a memory challenge game, a drawing machine, a 3D greeting card, a vanishing egg magic trick. The people who put together this well-photographed book are creative and smart.

A flying saucer was spotted on a Google Earth image near the South Pole in Antarctica. You can see it right here. Mysterious Universe claims that "melting ice could have formed a round depression as it sank into the surrounding snow, or wind could have created a small whirlwind effect as it blew into alcoves in the rock wall." Screw that though. I want to believe.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTM19wewp3w

Last night, Lan Diep held Captain America's shield during his swearing in as a San Jose, California city councilman. From NBC Bay Area:Diep, a Republican legal aid attorney, received cheers after he said "I do solemnly swear" when the clerk asked if he would defend his oath of office. His final vote of his first meeting? Joining the council in unanimously banning the communist Vietnamese flag from flying in San Jose.In an interview after the meeting, the proud comic book geek and Houston-born son of Vietnamese refugees said that Captain America stands for the "kinds of things I strive for: equal justice, fair play and democracy."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRacrigdMAA&feature=youtu.be

Timothy Snyder is the Housum Professor of History at Yale University and author of Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. He wrote a 20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency.5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don’t fall for it.5. Establish a private life.Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.17. Watch out for the paramilitaries.When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.By Unknown - Item from Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 - 1951This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 535790.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.English | Español | Français | Italiano | Македонски | മലയാളം | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Русский | Slovenščina | Türkçe | Українська | Tiếng Việt | 中文（简体） | 中文（繁體） | +/−, Public Domain, Link

The Royal Mail's David Bowie Special Stamps are now available for pre-order. The 10 stamps -- six featuring his iconic album covers and four with concert images -- will be available on March 14. A stamp with cover art from "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" was previously issued in 2010. The only other groups that Royal Mail has honored with a dedicated stamp issue like this are The Beatles and Pink Floyd.

In Highway to Hitler, Nico Voigtländer (UCLA) and Hans‐Joachim Voth (University of Zurich)'s 2014 paper analyzing the impact of the massive infrastructure investment in creating the Autobahn, the authors conclude that the major spending project was key to Hitler's consolidation of power. (more…)

These days, websites are much more than collections of HTML pages. Web developers have moved to the forefront of the tech industry, and there has never been a better time to learn to code with this Complete Web Developer Course.In this intensive course, I was able to quickly learn the fundamentals of web development by building 14 functional websites. It starts with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, which are all great languages for understanding the foundations of any webpage. Once I mastered the basics, I studied tools like jQuery and Bootstrap in order to understand how to get interactive webpages up and running. I even learned to created complex, updatable sites with Wordpress, and to communicate with remote servers using the PHP programming language and MySQL database management. All these skills together are what make you a full-stack developer, i.e. incredibly valuable to any modern company.Marked down 92% from the usual price of $199, this Complete Web Developer Course is just $14.99 if you purchase today.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:CodingLearn to Code 2017 Bundle (Pay What You Want)Project ManagementUltimate PM Certification ($69)Music + EntertainmentBrain.fm: 3-Year Subscription ($29)Cord-CuttingGhost Indoor HDTV Antenna (57% off)

Ross Compton, a 59-year-old homeowner in Middletown, Ohio called 911 in September 2016 to say that his house was on fire; there were many irregularities to the blaze that investigators found suspicious, such as contradictory statements from Compton and the way that the fire had started. (more…)

Hot off filming Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life to great acclaim and Blade Runner II, Denis Villeneuve is tackling the great white whale of screen science-fiction: Dune. Brian Herbert, son of author Frank Herbert, tweeted the news last night.https://twitter.com/DuneAuthor/status/826641857400565760?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwBleeding Cool News:Back in late November, we’d reported on Legendary having secured the rights to the Dune series of novels from the Frank Herbert estate. The deal gives Legendary the option for both film and television rights worldwide. Brian’s tweet implies that Villeneuve will be attached to the film project, and we’ll keep an eye out for any news on around the TV front. It seems that studios are looking to go wider than a single format lately, with Lionsgate developing the Kingkiller Chronicles simultaneously for both TV and Film.Dune was filmed twice, once as a stunning but mangled David Lynch epic and later as a low-budget TV miniseries. Fans have been eager for years to see the 1965 classic in theaters again, but various projects over the years have failed to enter production.The story's complexity sank the 1982 version, but its incredible production design made it a cult favorite. Star Kyle McLachlan explains the plot succinctly in a tweet:https://twitter.com/Kyle_MacLachlan/status/765390472604971009?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwFor once I insist this single novel be turned into a screen trilogy. Trying to fit Dune into two hours was the key mistake first time around.

Civilization was one of the classic games of the 16-bit age, when computers with speedy processors and hundreds of kilobytes of RAM made it possible to model and memorize complex, culture-bound simulations of human history. Twenty years on, though, it's been ported back to a humble 8-bit system that predated it by years.The genius behind the conversion is Fabian Hertel, and it's not just a mockup: a fully playable demo is available to enjoy. 8-bit Civ runs on Commodore 64 and, while reduced in scope, features cities, units, AI opponents, scientific advances and wonders of the world. 8 Bit Civilizations (working title) has understandably been reduced in scope from the original PC and Amiga versions. For example you can play against a maximum of 3 AI opponents (or 2 if barbarians are enabled), and the world map is not as large. However even in its current state, the game is every bit as fun as the original, and even includes some innovative new features. Such as you may chose the gender of your nation's leader, so if you choose to play the English nation, you be Henry VIII as well as Elizabeth I.The game board is played from an isometric perspective, a feature which wasn't added in the original line of games until Civilization II (1996).It clearly doesn't shy much from the game's complexity. Check out the traditionally numbing endgame going on in the screenshot below!

Thor, a three-legged fox, escaped from Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom in England and was free for some time before being tracked down."He was tracked down to a wood yesterday and last night he was caught in a trap left out for him," writes Andy Giddings of BBC Shropshire. "The wildlife centre says he 'seems very relieved to be back home'."Four-year-old Thor went wandering after a branch fell on his enclosure. Thor managed to stay hidden long enough to generate deep concern among staff."He must have jumped about 8ft on to the branch, which was pretty floppy. So that is still a hell of a jump," he said.There have been three sightings of Thor, an Arctic-silver fox cross, but staff are still searching for him."I am surprised there have not been more sightings of a three-legged fox who must be looking for food," Mr Dorrell said. The Shropshire Star reported that he traveled five miles from Hoo Farm, near Telford.Edward Dorrell, partner at Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom, said: "It's true we've located him, we haven't caught him yet but."He's very happy and very well and we hand-fed him this morning."We've got a house holder who's being very cooperative."It's a rural area and there's only one small road nearby, but there's woodland so as soon as he's had enough he might wander off into the woodland.They recaptured him shortly thereafter.Photo: Tracy Elliot via BBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDt9eY277bA&feature=youtu.be"Crazy Back Flipping Hamster keeps backflipping for no reason while the other hamsters just watch," reads the description on the YouTube video. If anything, though, the other hamsters appear to me to remain completely indifferent to their co-hamster's acrobatics.

Jonas Wagner's Neon Flames is a dead-simple web tool to create beautiful nebulae on-screen. There are eight colorful gases to choose from, and the longer you click, the larger your celestial flame. Be sure to check out Wagner's other experiments, such as Javascript filmstock emulation and 1-bit image dithering that puts Photoshop and even old Macs to shame.

https://twitter.com/TrumpDraws/status/826542931112660992@TrumpDraws does one thing perfectly: change the illustrations on a folder held up by Donald Trump in a video clip. The contrast of Trump's ostentatious solemnity and humorous drawings is just fabulous. [Thanks, Matthew Williams!] (more…)

Neil Gorsuch, currently serving on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is Donald Trump's pick to fill the seat opened by Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's death. The youngest nominee in 25 years, 49-year-old Gorsuch could provide decades of reliably conservative opinion from the bench."A special thank you to @POTUS," was posted to an as-yet-unverified Twitter account in Gorsuch's name. "As Mr. Trump's Supreme Court nominee I promise to always do what is best for the American People. #SCOTUS"Though Scalia died a year ago, Congressional Republicans refused to consider any pick from then-president Barack Obama, let alone his nominee, Merrick Garland.Gorsuch is described by the Washington Post as "a less bombastic version" of Scalia, ruling in favor of allowing corporations religious exemptions from federal regulations. Conservatives hope to see aggressively anti-abortion opinions from Gorsuch, though the opportunity to issue one has apparently not come before him so far in his career.https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/826598287553736704He's also shown a libertarian bent when it comes to law enforcement, dissenting when two colleagues on the bench sided with a cop who arrested kids who belched at them.

"To assume that just because of someone’s age and gender that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong." (more…)

If you're behind on seeing the nine Oscar nominees for best film and a little short on cash, many theatre chains are offering a package to see all nine starting at $35. Even if you only see a few of them, you'll save money over regular prices. (more…)

Drones are great for some kinds of deliveries, but operators usually want to recover their costly drone. For deliveries of medicine or supplies to remote areas, it may be more feasible to use cheap drones with a programmed one-way route. That's where ASPARA (Aerial Platform Supporting Autonomous Resupply Actions) comes in. (more…)

Ladies and gentlemen, the bookcase of the Old State Department Library at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (via Bookshelf)

Eric Schmidt -- long-serving former CEO of Google, current chairman of Google parent-company Alphabet, who knows a thing or two about evil -- addressed Googlers this week, calling the Trump #muslimban "evil." (more…)

Despite his widely read criticism of Tor, The Gruqq -- a legendary, pseudonymous security expert -- uses it as first and last line of defense in keeping your secret, activist Twitter account a secret. (more…)

Doane Paper makes wonderful pocket-sized notebooks with paper that is fantastically compatible with fountain pens.I absolutely love my Maruman Mnemosyne notebooks, but they aren't big and rigid. These 5"x7" Doane Paper pads have similarly awesome paper, and fit in casual clothes pockets, if you need small they also make 3"x5". The paper is slightly off-white and is quadruled with a light blue. My Levenger, Pilot and Parker's all glide over the paper very smoothly, tho the Pilot Vanishing point definetly shows its "travel-ness" when compared to the Duo-fold. Ink gets absorbed quickly and only slightly bleeds through unless I write with a heavy hand. I tried various Noodlers and Parker Quink black. Noodler's Blue Nose Bear is almost the same color as the grid lines.Doane Paper Large Utility Edition, 3-Pack Grid + Lines Memo Notebooks via Amazon

Egyptian photographer Amr Elshamy takes beautiful wildlife photos inside on a tabletop. From PetaPixel:The project started a couple of months ago when Elshamy got in touch with a Chinese company called MOJO FUN, which makes highly detailed animal figures.To create underwater shots, Elshamy filled a tank with water and added blue coloring to create a tint. To add specks of dust to the shots, he dropped tissues into the water and moved it around. He also uses a black background, fishing line to hold the animals, and a single flash head with a snoot with a blue gel.To create scenes of the snowy arctic, Elshamy uses a white background, 2 flashes heads (a softbox above and one for the background), and cheap snow that you can find at gift shops.

Tofugu (where Carla is executive editor) interviewed Bao Nakashima, the 10 year old author of the hit Japanese book, Seeing, Knowing, Thinking.Q. You said, "No need to read the air." What do you mean by that?It literally means "Having a life that follows your honest feelings." Air is data, so I think we can leave it to artificial intelligence.Q. What is your current study method?If I had to give my study method a name, it might be "open-ended." Although it is like learning the concept of social interest in Adlerian psychology, I think my study method doesn't have a name yet.

At a press conference where Paul Ryan defended President Trump's Muslim-targeting travel ban, someone within whispering distance of a hot mic muttered "waste of my fucking time" as the House Speaker walked off. Ryan denies saying it; consensus is it was a "bored cameraman" lurking around the lectern after he exited.

U.K. and U.S. authorities fined Deutsche Bank of Germany $629 million for helping crooked Russian plutocrats move $10 billion out of Russia. Via Bloomberg:From April 2012 to October 2014, mirror trades were used by Deutsche Bank customers to transfer more than $6 billion from Russia, through the German lender’s arm in the U.K., to overseas bank accounts including in Cyprus, Estonia, and Latvia, the FCA said. Another nearly $4 billion in suspicious "one-sided trades" were also carried out.The mirror trades allowed clients to buy local blue-chip shares for rubles, while the same stocks would be sold in London for dollars, in order to obtain the U.S. currency. Although such trades can be legal, there was a lack of controls in place at Deutsche Bank to prevent money laundering and other offenses.A couple of weeks ago Western Union was fined $586 million for colluding with organized crime. The CEOs of both companies kept their jobs.By Christoph F. Siekermann - Fotografiert am 17. September 2005, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The Archerfish of Southeast Asia and Australia spit at perched insects to knock them into the water for an easy meal. From KQED's "Deep Look":“When the fish fires the shot,” (Wake Forest University biologist Morgan) Burnett explained, citing the work of other researchers in Germany who first used high-speed cameras to observe the projectiles in 2014, “the water leaves the mouth as essentially a very long stream. But during flight, the stream merges into a ball.”The fish accomplishes this feat of timing through deliberate control of its highly-evolved mouthparts, in particular its lips, which act like an adjustable hose that can expand and contract while releasing the water.

It won't surprise you to learn American policing has a racism problem. It may surprise you to know that the FBI has been quietly, systematically investigating the white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement.Alice Speri writes that there's just not much anyone in politics is willing to do about it—and an inevitable conservative-led backlash when they try—but the FBI is starting to treat local cops the way it treated hippies: as a problem worth getting its hands dirty over.“For some reason, we have stepped away from the threat of domestic terrorism and right-wing extremism,” Jones continued. “The only way we can reconcile this kind of behavior is if we accept the possibility that the ideology that permeates white nationalists and white supremacists is something that many in our federal and law enforcement communities understand and may be in sympathy with.”Investigation is difficult:Although officers have been fired for expressing hateful views — sometimes to be re-hired by other departments, as happens regularly with officers accused of misconduct — some officers have also challenged those dismissals in court. Robert Henderson, an 18-year veteran of the Nebraska State Patrol, was fired when his membership in the Klan was discovered. He sued on First Amendment grounds and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear his case. Last year, 14 officers in the San Francisco Police Department were caught exchanging racist and homophobic texts that included several references to “white power” and messages such as “all niggers must fucking hang.” Most of those officers remain on the force after an attempt to fire several of them was blocked by a judge, who said the statute of limitation had expired.No centralized recruitment process or set of national standards exists for the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, many of which have deep historical connections to racist ideologies. As a result, state and local police as well as sheriff’s departments present ample opportunities for white supremacists and other right-wing extremists looking to expand their power base.Part of the problem: when the Department of Homeland Security released a study on extremism, Republicans railed against the unforgivable insult it represented against patriotic officers and veterans. This hindered further action against white supremacists throughout the Obama administration.“I believe that because that report was so denounced by conservatives, it sort of closed the door on whatever the FBI may have been considering doing with respect to combating infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists,” said Samuel Jones, a professor of law at the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago who has written about white power ideology in law enforcement. “Because after the 2006 FBI report, we simply cannot find anything by local law enforcement or the federal government that addresses this issue.”Pete Simi, a sociologist who spent decades studying the proliferation of white supremacists in the U.S. military, agreed. “The report underscores the problem of even discussing this issue. It underscores how difficult this issue is to get any traction on, because a lot of people don’t want to discuss this, let alone actually do something about it.”The FBI has quietly investigated white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement [The Intercept]

'President' Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order addressing cybersecurity today, Reuters reports in an item that cites "two sources familiar with the situation.” The EO is expected to be Trump's first action to address what he called a top priority of his administration during the Presidential campaign. (more…)

Authorities say Tulsa maintenance base workers workers for American Airlines found seven bricks of cocaine weighing 31 pounds with a street value of about a half a million dollars hidden in the nose of an AA aircraft. (more…)

Last Word is another instantly enslaving browser game from Bennett Foddy (of QWOP and Sportsfriends fame). Use the arrow keys to move a letter around the screen: if you collide with one of the other letters flying around, they join to form part of a word. All you have to do is make the longest legit word possible, winning points, then start over to rack up the score a la Scrabble. If you join letters that can't be extended to form a dictionary word, it's game over.

Jen Wang, the incredible comics creator who adapted my award-winning story Anda's Game for the bestselling graphic novel In Real Life is selling original, 9" x 12" art from the book, and the painting above these words, for $250 each -- all proceeds divided equally between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American Islamic Relations. (more…)

https://youtu.be/2KyavuKmdNEDan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, set up an experiment to measure dishonesty using a coin and a six-sided die. Conclusion: "if the person running the system is telling us corruption or dishonesty is allowed, our understanding of what is acceptable changes instantly."

At last night's SAG Awards, Stranger Things star David K. Harbour used his acceptance speech opportunity to deliver a killer rant about fighting for freedom, the meek, disenfranchised, and the marginalized. Meanwhile, the wonderful Winona Ryder had all of the feels.Here's Harbour's full speech:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfdjFNZ3FeI

I was in Target yesterday and spotted this remarkable work of art disguised as a marketing hoarding (it is in fact a tryptich with Darth Vader off to the left.) I'm hoping someone well-educated might explain to me what it means.

Eliza Gauger spotted this Horse's Head Beach Wood Driftwood Sculpture Hors Nose Eye Taxidermy Decor Art on eBay. The resemblance is uncanny, don't you agree?

A classic English chocolate bar. The finest Japanese wine. Together, at last. QUESTION: Is it a kit kat that tastes like sake or sake that tastes like a kit kat?ANSWER: hi,it is not sake but sake flavored chocolate. It is said to contain 0.8% alcohol; turns out that Japan has all sorts of wildly-flavored Kit Kats. If anyone gives them a try, report back for knowledge assimilation.

The BBC's Brian Wheeler reports that Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell's classic tale of a fake news editor at a popular British tabloid, has sold out only days into the new administration of President Donald Trump. (It's the #1 book at Amazon, with only used copies in stock; the company promises new Prime-shipped paperbacks in a week. The Blu-Ray of the John Hurt movie's sold out too.)In the top five is It Can't Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis's classic cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, which predicts the "chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press."Also flying high is Aldous Huxley's 1935 novel Brave New World, which imagined a insidiously totalitarian future where prescription medications, relentless entertainment and consumerist excess make violent repression unnecessary, where "slaves ... do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude."Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 sneaks back into the top 50, right behind Trump: The Art of the Deal, a ghostwritten autobiography rumored to have never been read by its ostensible author.The most dystopian book in the bestseller lists, though, was not included in the BBC's roundup: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck, by personal development consultant Mark Manson, who has cracked the art of standing out in the crowded self-help genre: "Fuck positivity. Let’s be honest, shit is fucked and we have to live with it."

Windows 10 takes one of the most hated aspects of Microsoft operating systems -- forced, sudden software updates and reboots -- and elevates them to a sadistic art, with Win 10 machines suddenly announcing that it's update time and rendering themselves inoperable for up to an hour, wiping out unsaved work and locking users out of their computers while they're onstage, or in the middle of large file uploads, or livecasting, or completing a live test for college admission, taking notes during an interview, etc. (more…)

My friend Michelle Fox spotted this vehicle in New Mexico. The "non-racist" really makes it!

Google Pixel Phone, Google Home, Virtual Reality Headset...all items on my personal wish list (and probably yours too). That’s why I highly suggest entering the Google Hardware Giveaway and getting the chance to win them all for free.The Pixel is Google’s answer to Apple’s tightly integrated mobile ecosystem. Bringing high-end refinement to an Android without any of the typical manufacturer-installed bloatware, the Pixel aims to give the iPhone a run for its money.To pair with your new smartphone, this giveaway also includes the Daydream View VR Headset to take full advantage of the Pixel’s flagship specs. Rounding it all out, the Google Home upgrades your Wi-Fi network experience with voice control and compatibility for smart TVs, lights, and other connected home devices.These new devices are exciting enough by themselves. Combined together, they unveil the true potential of Google’s services. Enter the Google Hardware Giveaway for free today—but act quickly, because this opportunity will be gone soon.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:CodingLearn to Code 2017 Bundle (Pay What You Want)Project ManagementUltimate PM Certification ($69)Music + EntertainmentBrain.fm: 3-Year Subscription ($29)Cord-CuttingGhost Indoor HDTV Antenna (57% off)

HAPPY MUTANTS DAY OF ICE CREAM-------BY THE PUBLISHER OF BOING BOING, A DIRECTORY OF WONDERFUL THINGSA PROCLAMATIONA notional pride spins the Happy Mutant soul and congests the Happy Mutant heart. We are people, united by a common path of evolution. Beyond that, we have art. Some, maybe not even that.Ice cream is a treat for many Happy Mutants, and to serve that ice cream we must have a scoop, or a large yet very strong spoon. Bowls would also help, cones optional. (more…)

I'm playing Francis Tseng's dystopian startup business simulation called "The Founder." It's a bit like The Sims, but the goal is to run a successful startup. The game is played on your browser, no download required.

Lucy Bellwood, an adventure cartoonist of the beloved (to me, at least) ligne claire school of illustration, created this webcomic about spending time aboard the R/V Falkor, "a state-of-the-art oceanographic research vessel." It's available as a PDF, or get read it here.

Californians have long been upset to find fewer tax dollars enter their state than leave. It was once a big part of recalling their Governor and installing a Governator. Funding the great and failing center of our country, all while being told you are too "crunchy" and "granola" apparently gets tiresome! Citizens of the Bear Republic are now cleared to seek signatures supporting an amendment to the state constitution. The amendment would remove text both declaring California inseparable from the Union, and respecting the U.S. Constitution as the "supreme law of the land." 600,000 signatures and it goes to a public vote. California knows how to party.More from the LA Times:Supporters of the campaign for California to secede from the United States can now begin collecting the hundreds of thousands of signatures they need to get a proposed "Calexit" initiative on the ballot.California Secretary of State Alex Padilla cleared the proposed initiative to begin collecting signatures on Thursday.If the measure gets on the ballot and gains approval by a majority of voters, it would repeal clauses in the California Constitution stating that the state is an "inseparable part of the United States" and that the U.S. Constitution is the "supreme law of the land," according to the title and summary prepared by the state attorney general's office.The measure would place another question on the ballot in 2019, asking whether California should become a separate country. If at least half of registered voters participate in that vote, with at least 55% of those voting to approve, the results would be treated as California's declaration of independence.The current measure's fiscal effect is "dependent on various factors," writes the state's nonpartisan legislative analyst, and if it succeeds would result in "major, but unknown budgetary impacts."The proposal's backers, known as Yes California, have argued that the state is culturally out of step with the rest of the U.S. and that California pays more money to the federal government than it receives in spending. The election of President Trump has only strengthened their argument, they say."California loses [by] being a part of America culturally and financially," said Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the group's founders. "It could be a nation all its own, everybody knows that. The only question is if they want to break off."

I was waiting for him to play the opening to "Smoke on the Water." Was not disappointed.

My favorite part of this video is the hand-cranked machine that strips dried kernels of corn from the cob, then grabs the denuded cob and deposits it out of the hopper (hopefully later to be turned into corncob pipes [I had a friend in college who smoked pot in a corncob pipe.]). After that the kernels are ground into meal with a gas=powered mill that has pulleys and a belt that are just begging for a person to get their finger close enough to bite off.